January 5, 2012

Chasing Tale (Digital Edition) for January 5th, 2012: Is there such a thing as too many?

One thing was
abundantly clear last month, and that was authors had an innumerable
amount of e-books to give away for Christmas--or sell them so cheap,
they were practically giving them away. I couldn't check my any
social media site without seeing a bargain. Now, I have a glut of
goodies on my Kindle of such enormity that if they were physical
books I would require one of those self-storage units. Honestly, it's
no wonder how authors who sell cheap e-books don't see immediate
results in terms of repeat sales. Consumers can't actually consume
fast enough after they've gone on a spree. I'm a voracious reader,
but not a speed reader.

Anyhow, here is a
litany of e-books now waiting on my Kindle to be read:

Winds of Change by
Jason Brannon - Permuted Press offered quite a few free and cheap e-books over Christmas, and this was one of them that got recommended to me.

Railroad!: Rodger Dodger by
Tonia Brown -
I like steampunk a little more each time I read it. I think a
surefire way to win me over even more is to throw in some wild west
elements, which is just what Tonia's done here.

Haunted by
Glen Cadigan -
Glen sent me a review copy of his novella in mid-December. Now, my
review commitments are already insane, but novellas are easy to burn
through in an evening, plus I'm a sucker for a good ghost story, so
I'll keep my fingers crossed on this one.

Run and
Desert Places by
Blake Crouch - I've had Run on my wish list for months, so I was pleased to see it offered for free just before Christmas, along with another Crouch title.

Sparrowhawk and
One Monster Is Not Enough by
Paul Finch -
After I read and reviewed Paul's chapbook, King
Death,
he got in touch with me to review a couple more of his books. One was
Sparrowhawk, a
Christmas themed tale I've already read and reviewed, and a short
story collection.

Crisis Hospital by
Belinda Frisch - After reading Dead Spell last year, I figured I should add another of Belinda's books to my shelf and this free offer caught my eye.

Judgment (The Jury #1) by
Lee Goldberg -
Here's one of the free books I snagged in December. I really enjoyed
his work with the Dead
Man series,
and while I'm in no hurry to read a Monk
novelization,
I will however enjoy checking this mystery novel out.

Dead Earth: The Green Dawn by
Mark Justice and David T. Wilbanks -
I can't remember how exactly I discovered the Pod of Horror podcast,
but once I listened to Mark's interviews with amazing horror authors,
as well as his snappy back-and-forth with Horror World's Nancy
Kalanta, I was a fan. Aside from being a podcast and radio host,
Mark's an author too, and this little gem was available for free via
Permuted Press.

Take the Long Way Home by
Brian Keene -
As readers, we take for granted that when we buy a book, the author
is going to get paid. When I got a couple of Brian's novels last
year, it turns out Dorchester Publishing didn't send Brian one thin
dime--and he's not the only one getting shafted apparently. At least
Deadite Press, who published this book, is going to give him his due.

Flee by
Jack Kilborn and Ann Voss Peterson - I remember reading a couple glowing reviews for this one. And I'm warming up some to the spy thriller, and this one could be really good.

Among the Living by
Timothy W. Long - A free novel, and one recommended by Rhiannon Frater to boot.

Speed Dating with the Dead and
Transparent Lovers by
Scott Nicholson -
I already have a couple of Scott's novels on my to-be-read pile, but
when he offered these books for free one day, I couldn't resist. What
I've read from him has been in the southern gothic vein so far, but I
get the feeling these one strike a different timbre.

Brutal Light by
Gary W. Olson -
Gary sent me a review copy of his independently published novel. It's
got a good cover and premise, so hopefully the rest of it holds up
when I finally get around to reading it.

Wildest Dreams by
Norman Partridge -
It was about a year ago I read and reviewed Norman's Halloween
novella, Dark
Harvest,
which I loved. So when Cemetery Dance announced via e-mail this
novella was on sale for 99 cents I didn't hesitate scooping it up.

Slag Attack and
My Fake War by
Anderson Prunty - I've heard Prunty's name bandied about, and I believe I've listened to him on Greg Hall's Funky Werepig podcast--I'll have to go back and check--so these two freebies caught my eye.

Arcane by
Nathan Shumate (editor) -
Arcane has
morphed from a periodical to an anthology, jam-packed with thirty
stories from authors such as Gemma Files, Milo James Fowler, and
Damien Walters Grintalis. I really enjoyed the first issue of the now
defunct periodical, so I'm eager to see what this huge collection has
to offer.

Beautiful, Naked, & Dead by
Josh Stallings - I forget who tweeted a link to this freebie, but sufficed to say I trusted that person to steer me in the right direction. Hope it's good.

Shotgun Gravy by
Chuck Wendig -
I've been visiting Chuck's blog, Terrible Minds, more and more the
last several months. So, I figured it was time for me to put one of
his books on my to-be-read pile. This novella with a title I just
really liked was going for 99 cents, so I grabbed it.